A Sacramento Superior Court jury has convicted a man of running a real estate-based Ponzi scheme during the housing meltdown of a few years ago.

On Monday, a jury convicted Ronald Russell of 49 felony counts of grand theft and two misdemeanor accounts of petty theft, with sentencing set for April 24.

According to the Sacramento County District Attorney’s office, Russell started a “Rent-to-Own” program in 2009 in which he drummed up business by asking people, usually in financial distress, to pay $2,900 per person to join. He told them he’d use the assets to buy homes as investments, rent them to people who put up the money and eventually sell them to the renters/investors at the price he’d bought them for.

Russell also promised a full refund to anyone who wasn't satisfied. But an investigation by the district attorney’s office determined Russell simply used the investments either for his own personal expenses or to issue refunds to people who’d previously demanded them. Russell continued the practice through 2009 and 2010, roughly the height of the foreclosure and short sale activity in the region.

The investigation also determined no one received a house through participation in the program, and few received a refund. A total of 51 victims suffered a loss of $139,200 in the scam, according to the district attorney’s office.

Because of the pending sentencing, the district attorney would not comment on the conviction, which ended a trial that began nearly two months ago. Deputy District Attorney Dean Archibald of the real estate fraud unit acted as lead prosecutor on the case.